Autonomous VehiclesLet the car do the driving!

P&O 2010 Dennis Bevers

Recent Projects

Audi TTS ◦High speed Pikes Peak hillclimb

Top Gear BMW 330i◦Self driving predefined path on a track

VW Passat◦Fully autonomous driving in real traffic

Google Cars◦Seven fully autonomous vehicles

Audi TTS

Audi TTS

Volkswagen & Stanford University

Native Audi Technology◦drive-by-wire throttle ◦semiautomatic DSG gearbox

2 ordinary computers running:◦safety critical algorithms using Java RTS◦vehicle dynamics algorithms.

Pikes Peak Hillclimb Race

BMW 330i

BMW 330i

Top Gear Test Track

Military grade GPS system

+140km/u

VW Passat

VW Passat

Germany's TU Braunschweig

DARPA Urban Challenge

GPS, laser and sensor-guided

Real Life Traffic◦speed limits◦ regular streets◦merge into highway traffic◦stop at red lights and stop signs◦automatically react to hazards

Google Cars

Google Cars

Toyota Prius & Audi TT

1,000 miles fully autonomously

Google Maps + Google Datacenters

Google CEO Eric Schmidt◦ “It’s a bug that cars were invented before

computers… Your car should drive itself. It just makes sense.”

Technology

To drive a car, a system would need to:

◦Understand its immediate environment (Sensors)

◦Know where it is and where it wants to go (Navigation)

◦Find its way in the traffic (Motion planning)

◦Operate the mechanics of the vehicle (Actuation)

Technology

Fully autonomous ◦ Vehicles for paved roads◦ Free-ranging vehicles

Pre-built infrastructure ◦ Dual mode transit – monorail◦ Automated highway systems◦ Free-ranging on grid

Driver-assistance ◦ Sensorial-informative◦ Actuation-corrective◦ Systemic

Future?